Purpose

The objectives of the project are to enhance understanding of the situation surrounding information warfare and to develop effective countermeasures, strategies, and ways of international cooperation. The research project started in FY2023 and is scheduled to run for three years. "Hybrid warfare," which represents modern methods of warfare, involves information warfare conducted during peacetime with the aim of disturbing and weakening society through the manipulation of information. In this project, we will (1) monitor the information space and create infographics to inform and warn about the situation of information warfare, and (2) conduct comparative research on the measures taken by each country against information warfare. Subsequent to employing pilot tests during the process of developing tools for countermeasures, we will make policy recommendations on effective measures and ways to facilitate international cooperation to address information warfare. As part of "information space monitoring," we will conduct "crawling," or collect and analyze social media content, and monitor information spaces such as news databases, Twitter (X), and Yahoo comment sections to visualize where disinformation is being disseminated in the world. For development of "information warfare response tools," we will collect information on countermeasures against information warfare, particularly focusing on Taiwan, as well as the United States, United Kingdom, and others in order to contribute to the development of effective tools in Japan. Further, the research group will study and make recommendations on strategies for international cooperation. In addition to conducting research sessions among the members, the group will conduct awareness-raising activities including publishing articles in online-media and newspapers and magazines, holding public and closed seminars, disseminating information in Japanese and English on the Nakasone Peace Institute website, and organizing opportunities to brief members of the media.

Members (honorifics omitted)

Study Group Activities

1st meeting　25 December, 2023

Theme：Purpose and Plan of Study Group

2nd meeting　22 January, 2024

Theme：Disinformation in the Indo-Pacific
Reporter：Nagasako Tomoko, Research Fellow, Information-technology Promotion Agency
　　　　 Suzuki Ryohei,Doctoral Course Student, Hitotsubashi University
https://www.npi.or.jp/en/research/2024/01/26153658.html

3rd meeting, 8 February, 2024

Theme：Taiwan's 2024 Presidential Election and Information Manipulation
Reporter: Kawaguchi Takahisa, Principal Researcher, Tokio Marine dR Co., Ltd.
Commentator：Tsuchiya Takahiro, Associate Professor, Kyoto University of Advanced Science
https://www.npi.or.jp/en/research/2024/03/18154117.html

4th meeting　16 February, 2024

Theme："Information Warfare" by Russia: Focus on its Strategies, Objectives, and Case Studies
Reporter: Sasaki Takahiro, former Defense Attaché at the Embassy of Japan in Russia (retired rear admiral, Maritime Self-Defense Force)
Commentator：Kawanishi Yohei,Research Fellow, Nakasone Peace Institute
https://www.npi.or.jp/en/research/2024/03/18154906.html

27 February, 2024

Commentary「Democratic Elections Under Challenge in Digital Age -How to Confront Social Divisions and Disinformation-」（Osawa Jun）

5th meeting 19 June, 2024

Theme：SNS Data Analyzation "Janapase-Chinese public opinion and disinformation around the problem about U.S.base in Okinawa
Reporter: Yasue Mariko, Senior Research Fellow, Nakasone Peace Institute

6th meeting 17 July, 2024

Theme: China's Information Warfare China's Cyberattacks, Information and Cognitive Warfare in Cyberspace, and the Use of Generative AI Technology
Reporter: Osawa Jun, Senior Research Fellow, Nakasone Peace Institute
Tsuchiya Takahiro, Associate Professor, Kyoto University of Advanced Science
https://npi.or.jp/en/research/2024/10/01140112.html

7th meeting 18 September, 2024

Theme: Threat of Generative AI in Cyber and Information Warfare: Focusing on Information Manipulation Cyberattacks
Reporter: Nagasako Tomoko, Researcher at the Office of Cyber Domain Awareness, Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan (IPA)
https://npi.or.jp/en/research/2024/11/05131012.html

8th meeting October 16, 2024

Theme: China's Digital Platforms
Reporter: Mochinaga Dai, Associate Professor at the Shibaura Institute of Technology
https://npi.or.jp/en/research/2024/12/02115445.html

*This study is funded by a grant from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan for research and study on diplomacy and security projects adopted in FY2023.